April is National Autism Awareness Month since the 1970's to raise awareness. The United States recognizes April as a special opportunity to educate the public about autism and issues within the autism community. My son has a really hard time with receptive language. This autism receptive learning activity promotes self confidence and positive interactions with the world around them. It is a constant battle to get him to understand and follow directions. Once he gets something in his head it is hard to get it out. He also battles processing steps and gets so frustrated. This activity helps him with confidence and helps him practice following steps.
Autism Receptive Learning Activity:
My husband works in the restaurant business. He often comes home and we talk about what happened throughout his day. Sometimes we get quite a laugh. My son came to me one day and asked if we could play restaurant and make our own menus. This turned out to be an awesome activity for us and one that requires him to listen and follow steps.
First, we sat down and made menus. He listed items he thought others would like and some of his favorites. This gave him the opportunity to practice writing, as well as, think about what people would order. He tends to think about what he wants so this helped us work on the wants of others. It really threw him off when someone would order something that was not on his menu.
After we made our menus he was ready to go to work. He had us all sit at the table while he waited on us. He would ask each person what they wanted and would jot it down the best he could. I then would ask him what the person ordered so he could repeat it back. He did very well when it was just one item but when it progressed to more items he would get aggravated. So I jumped in and helped him ask the questions.
When my oldest son asked for french fries I prompted my son by asking him what would you put on french fries? He would then come up with things that you would put on french fries. I believe this helps him think and maybe pay closer attention. He is learning to correlate things that go together which helps him remember. This was a fun activity for us all and we got some really good laughs in. It is important to make learning fun and not seem like work, especially when you are working on a special need.
When you are living with a child that has receptive language disorder there is no gray! It is black and white. Teaching them to ask question and process the information is key. It is a very long process but one we are working on daily.
I have never forced my child in to any activity he was not comfortable with. We make slow steps in each one. There have been several activities he would not do and so we just move to the next. Sometimes it takes awhile and other times he jumps right in. I hope you enjoy our taking orders activity!
Autism Articles:
National Autism Awareness Month Sensory Ideas
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Change Your Diet Change Your Child Series – Autism Spectrum Disorder – Part 4
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Shelley is a boy mom, marine wife, and is blessed with an amazing family. She loves sharing recipes, travel reviews and tips that focus on helping busy families make memories.
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